Archives for
December 2009

It seems that the latest security patches from Microsoft, deployed over the last Patch Tuesday, are causing serious problems for some users of Windows, including Windows 7. In a nutshell, the affected Windows machines simply stop working and start di...

Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day, and companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter are joining the (RED) campaign, raising awareness about AIDS in Africa. You may have noticed that the Twitter homepage has turned red in honor of the occasion, b...

Bing and Yahoo have already released their lists of the most popular search terms of 2009, and now it's time for the undisputed, heavyweight champion of search -- Google, in the red trunks -- to announce its rundown. In their annual Zeitgeist report,...

By midday yesterday it looked like we might be in for a big Cyber Monday, and today, final stats show that it was definitely a strong showing for online retailers. According to numbers provided by Coremetrics, sales for this year’s Cyber Monday beat ...

We've always been impressed with Fring, the VoIP and chat client for your mobile phone. The service works with a ton of different networks, including Skype, AIM, MSN Messenger and Twitter. Plus, you can make calls to landlines from your SkypeOut/Skyp...

We first wrote about Redux back in July. Redux is a Web site that turns status updates and real-time feeds into an entertainment destination. It's basically a FriendFeed/Twitter/YouTube mashup. In October, the service added support for your Twitter a...

Social networks have been in the precarious position of having to deal with sex offenders since their early days, but as a result of new laws being passed around the country, several local governments now also play a role in keeping predators off the...

Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, advent calendars can be a lot of fun. And while Web-based advents don't evoke quite the same thrill as opening up a tangible paper door on every day in December, they can still be full of nice surprises. 24ways ...

If you’re among the growing number of people abandoning their cable and satellite TV packages in favor of alternatives like iTunes, Hulu, and Netflix, here’s something interesting to consider: YouTube may soon offer streaming TV shows the day after t...

Several months ago, we learned that Twitter's inventor and chairman, Jack Dorsey, was working on a brand new project, his first after stepping down as Twitter's CEO. Soon his new project was revealed to be the Square iPhone Payment System, which inte...

While URL shorteners such as Bit.ly have been growing rapidly due to the rise of Twitter, others have been left in the dust. Tr.im has gone open source after shutting down in dramatic fashion. More recently, Cli.gs announced that it was shutting down...

Warner Bros. recently released the highly anticipated film Where the Wild Things Are, in which acclaimed director Spike Jonze brought Maurice Sendak's classic children's book to life, injecting it with his unique style. To promote the film, Warner Br...

Google introduced Building Maker, a tool to allow users to make accurate 3D models of buildings, in October. The service provides users with aerial photographs that can be superimposed on 3D shapes in order to construct accurate models of a given pla...

CNBC is reporting that that the deal for GE to sell NBC Universal to Comcast is done. While we've been anticipating a possible deal since rumors started circulating in late September, yesterday's move by GE (the parent company of NBC) to buy Vivendi'...

As newspapers and old media companies have seen their revenues shrink, they have essentially done one of two things: found ways to embrace the web or blamed Google for their problems. Now with the heat being turned up on Google by News Corp and Ruper...

As soon as news spread that the iPhone 3GS would support video recording, anticipation started to build for the day when users could stream video live from their phones without having to jailbreak them. Unfortunately, Apple has refused to permit stre...

The next big revision of HTML, HTML5, is on the horizon, promising a whole host of new conveniences, including offline support for popular Web applications--something you're already familiar with if you're using the Google Gears browser add-on. In a ...

We've seen plenty of Twittered marriage proposals, but a recent video posted to YouTube takes the cake for the most unconventional Twitter and Facebook update. During his wedding ceremony, Dana Hanna whipped out his mobile device and not only changed...

From the "this might not come as much of a surprise" department comes the latest wireless customer satisfaction survey from Consumer Reports. The annual results from over 50,000 readers surveyed in 26 U.S. cities found AT&T to have the lowest custome...

Cyber Monday traffic data has officially arrived, and it should come as no surprise that Amazon was the top visited retail Web site, according to Experian Hitwise. In fact, Amazon accounted for 15.53 percent of all Cyber Monday traffic to the top 500...

It's taken several months, but it looks like the deal is done: Comcast is buying NBC Universal from GE. Well, at least 51 percent of it. While the deal still has to pass regulatory hurdles, it seems likely that The Tonight Show and The Office are goi...

In a rare open letter, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced a series of privacy changes, starting with the removal of regional networks. Since its inception, Facebook has been based on networks. First, it was your college and univer...

If you've played along in our Lunchtime Poll series thus far, you'll know we throw out a typically open-ended poll question and let you lovely readers have at it in the comments. Recently, we learned your top 10 news readers, and in our last poll we ...

Microsoft has decided to capitalize on the popularity of Windows Live Messenger in China, launching a new service called MSN Juku, which they call a "local innovation developed by MSN China." The service, however, is a lot like Twitter: It lets users...

Mark Zuckerberg's note detailing Facebook's latest privacy changes also contained an announcement about another important milestone for Facebook: 350 million users. It's a flabbergasting number, but even more amazing is the speed with which Facebook ...

Can't wait to try out Google's Chrome OS on an actual netbook? You might have to contain yourself until the second half of 2010, as that's when Acer -- the first company to announce the development of a Chrome-based netbook -- plans to release theirs...

We wrote last week about the impending launch of the MOG music subscription service, and now that day is here. To recap, MOG will be taking on Napster and Rhapsody in the all-you-can-eat, on-demand listening experience for $5 per month. With an exten...

With more than 350 million users, Facebook is winning the social networking race by a landslide. But another area they’re winning big (in large part due to that growth) is in portable identity, where their Facebook Connect platform competes with offe...

Boxee, the media center with a social twist, will be launching its public beta on December 7 -- which is great news for those of us who have been using the service since the very early alpha days on our Apple TVs or Macs. Even before Boxee enters its...

For the past six days, much of the world has been riveted by the fallout from the Thanksgiving car accident of Tiger Woods. The story has been driven in large part by the online tabloid media and the all-knowing eyes of TMZ, who has speculated about ...

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